Monday, 23 August 2010

Our Second Day On The Island

(Connectivity problems mean that I'll probably be posting these articles when we get home, rather than when we're on the Island.)

Being Car Boot Addicts, Suzanne, Ols and I headed off early to see what the Isle Of Wight offer to Sunday Early-birds.

Unfortunately the rainy weather meant that the Car Boot Sales at the Newport Football Club, West Green and Ryde were pretty small affairs.

The car boot sale at Ryde (which is held between the ice-rink and the bowling alley) didn't start until 1130, so we went down to the beach at St Helens, which is very peaceful and picturesque. There's the ruins of an old Church and plenty of rock-pools to explore when the tide is out. We kicked off our shoes and had a paddle, enjoying the soft sand between our toes.

The rain got even heavier as the day progressed, so after a packed lunch in the car we decided to visit Osborne House, one of Queen Victoria's favourite residences.

The bad weather curtailed our explorations of the grounds, but Osborne House itself was fascinating, and we caught the mini-bus down to the Swiss Chalet, built for Queen Victoria's children.

After Osborne House we went to Needles park, which offers great views of the famous landmark, a small theme park and a truly scary cable-car / ski-lift ride!

We headed home after a great (if wet) day. The weather forecast for tommorrow is more wind and rain, but fingers crossed it'll clear up and the sunshine will come out.